The Obama administration is seeking to address one of the twocentral complaints from consumers about insurance plans offeredthrough the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marketplaceby implementing new rating measures that will reward insurers thatoffer beneficiaries access to many providers in theirarea.

The administration will not mandate broader networks, but itwill seek to make it clear to consumers shopping for plans onHealthCare.gov that some some include more providers than others.Each plan will have a label that indicates how broad the networkis.

Consumers in some areas have said that their health plans are sonarrow that they can’t find primary care physicians, specialistsor even hospitals nearby that are covered.

The narrow networks not only force people to travel longdistances to find an in-network provider, but they have in manyinstances appeared to drive people who can’t find in-networkphysicians to the emergency room. In November, the American Collegeof Emergency Room Physicians reported high numbers of insuredpatients seeking care for non-emergency conditions in the ER. Thegroup urged the administration to demand broader networks frominsurers, for the sake of both patients and providers.

The problem is, some consumers like narrow networks. They tendto be cheaper. So as the administration seeks to incentivizebroader networks, it risks raising costs for many consumers whowould prefer a bare-bones policy with the lowest premiumspossible.

In fact, the same day the administration announced the networkmeasures, it also announced that it would be raising by $250 thelimit on out-of-pocket costs for plans, to $7,150 for an individualand $14,300 for a family.

The administration has said that the increases are simply inkeeping with a schedule of increases laid out in the PPACA. Thelimit will increase by $300 next year, though.

Sabrina Corlette, a Georgetown professor of public health, toldthe New York Times that “the administration was walking a verydelicate line, pushing forward with consumer protections whiletrying to keep insurers onboard and participating in themarketplaces.”

In recent weeks the administration has unveiled other measuresaimed at addressing concerns that insurers voiced about theirability to turn a profit in the marketplace.

Most notably, the administration has limited the number of exemptions itwill grant for those who try to enroll in plans past the openenrollment deadline. Those who seek to enroll past the deadlinewill also be subject to stricter documentation requirements toprove they qualify.